Knick notes: Rule allows team to deal J.R. Smith starting Wednesday

The Record

J.R. date of note

If the Knicks are thinking about trading J.R. Smith, today is the day it could happen.

The conditions of his re-signing with the Knicks as an Early Bird-rights free agent prohibited the team from dealing him until Jan. 15. Now that the hurdle is cleared, the much more difficult problem would be finding a taker for a player who is underachieving on the court, coming off knee surgery and a third positive drug test — with a pricy contract that runs two more years after this one.

Smith said he’s not thinking about it.

"I’m not even worried about that," he said after not playing Tuesday at Charlotte. "I’m trying to fix what’s going on here. Other than that, I’m not really focused on it."

Big minutes in effect

With Tyson Chandler back in uniform after missing four games (and all but four minutes of a fifth) the Knicks are hoping to ease back the workload on their other big men: Amar’e Stoudemire and Kenyon Martin.

Beginning with the Dallas game in which Chandler departed just minutes after the tip-off, Stoudemire had averaged 22.8 minutes, 12.8 points and 7.0 rebounds per game before Tuesday. Martin, who was, like Stoudemire, on a minutes restriction earlier this season, had averaged 29.1 minutes per game starting in Dallas.

Woodson said he would like to give Stoudemire or Martin a game off during this stretch of four games in five nights if he can.

Heart healthy

The first time the Knicks were in Charlotte this season, former New York assistant and first-year Bobcats coach Steve Clifford spent the night in the hospital after experiencing chest pains and had two stents inserted.

Knick notes: Rule allows team to deal J.R. Smith starting Wednesday

The Record

J.R. date of note

If the Knicks are thinking about trading J.R. Smith, today is the day it could happen.

The conditions of his re-signing with the Knicks as an Early Bird-rights free agent prohibited the team from dealing him until Jan. 15. Now that the hurdle is cleared, the much more difficult problem would be finding a taker for a player who is underachieving on the court, coming off knee surgery and a third positive drug test — with a pricy contract that runs two more years after this one.

Smith said he’s not thinking about it.

"I’m not even worried about that," he said after not playing Tuesday at Charlotte. "I’m trying to fix what’s going on here. Other than that, I’m not really focused on it."

Big minutes in effect

With Tyson Chandler back in uniform after missing four games (and all but four minutes of a fifth) the Knicks are hoping to ease back the workload on their other big men: Amar’e Stoudemire and Kenyon Martin.

Beginning with the Dallas game in which Chandler departed just minutes after the tip-off, Stoudemire had averaged 22.8 minutes, 12.8 points and 7.0 rebounds per game before Tuesday. Martin, who was, like Stoudemire, on a minutes restriction earlier this season, had averaged 29.1 minutes per game starting in Dallas.

Woodson said he would like to give Stoudemire or Martin a game off during this stretch of four games in five nights if he can.

Heart healthy

The first time the Knicks were in Charlotte this season, former New York assistant and first-year Bobcats coach Steve Clifford spent the night in the hospital after experiencing chest pains and had two stents inserted.